Electrolytic condenser



March 4', 1924. r 11,435,358

. 1'. ALLCUTT ELECTHOLYTIC CONDENSER sirled Dep.n so. 1919 t LE7A1TORNEY Patented Mr; f4; 1924.

unirse @STATES nif'nw'i'rn'i or 1,485,358 A Fics.

cnrs'rmi T. ALLcUfm, or rrrsnunon, PENNSYLVANIA, Assioma To wEsTrNonoUsEf ELEornzc e umrncrtrnmo COMPANY, A conronnrron or PENusYLvsmy,ELECTROLYTIC CONDENSERI application ma December so, 191asemi no.345,371.

T o all whomtzt'mayfncermf ,Be .it known,that.ICi1nsTnn T; ALLoU'rr, nagcitizen oftheUnitedgStates; land a resi- 1, denffofl Pittsbu'rghfinthe' county of Alle- 5 ghenyuand -State ofPennsylyania,have'inventedj,annewlanduseful Im rovement iny powersfactor' correction;or

Electrol'ytic Condenser-s, of w tinuus' operatingfconditionsw lner/fthe; condenser f ich the followingglsgaspeeiication.f f c jMyainrentionlrelates to electrolytic conl lh 'llforl its primary'ob'cct,ecoistuctiono ondenserspwhich s all have "a-satisfactorypowerfactorunder con- It L hosefailiiiliar with 4 th art'tha't condensrsfofthe t peformed brsplsyng sllrelityz'of fi m-frm111g p v'sitesimmersed inasuitable ,'electrolyte, connected in an eleetriealsupily circuit for orother purposes, tend -to deteriorate Vand to operate .withanlincreasedpowerfactor or with 1ncreased losseswhen continuously connected in anvalternatingcurreiit circuit. If this deterioration is not revented in"soineman- Osses vmay increaseJ to such'ian' extent that "thecondenserbecomes useless forthe purpose for which itis designee 1 r OneY objectof mylinventi'on, therefore, residesin the provision -of apparatus whichshall insuresatisfactory operating conditions in acondexiser which iscontinuousl connected in a supply circuit. y

Another object resides in the provision of apparatus,`whichmay beemployed in con junction with anv electrolytic' condensento insureoperating characteristics, which shall be simple in'construction,relatively inexpensive and easilyopcrated.

With these and other objects in view, my

i invention will be more fully described, illusi tained positive withrespect to the electro-4 lyte. t is desirable that the electrodes-of acondenser be maintained positive with respect to the electrolyte becausethey 4do not deteriorate under suoli conditions, and good operatingconditions, therefore, are assured. By my invention, I provide anauxiliary .electrode which is connected' alternately to -the mainelectrodes of an clectrolytic condenser, thus incieasin r theVeli'ective area .ther-cof, This raises t e potential of first one and'then the other of the main-electrodes in such manner that each isalterhately positive with respect to the electrolyte, While the otheroperates. under the conditions Yordinarily experienced.` -It followsthat the main electrode which is 44connected to the. auxiliary electrodeis maintained in good "condition, as long as it is so connected, while,after several days of operation, the other electrode will begin todeteriorate and the' power factor of the condenser, as a whole, willtend to inciease. Consequently, just before the power -factor starts toincrease and one main electrode begins to de`4 teriorate, I propose toshift the connection of the auxiliary electrode to the maineIectrodeabout to deteriorate, whereby the latter Willtlien be operatedlunder conditions which will offset the badel'ects experienced by itwhile the auxiliary electrode was conlnected'to the other mainelectrode. By employing an auxiliary electrode and alternate yconnecting it to the main electrodes, before the main electrode which isoperating alone becomes deteriorated, it is possible .to always maintainthe condenser plates in good condition and to insure a low power factorin the condenser. i In Fig. l is shown a condenser 1 comprising asuitable tank 2 and a plurality of main electrodes 3 and 4, immersed ina suitable electrolyte 5. An auxiliary film-forming electrode 6 isconnected to a double-throw switch 7 which may be operated to connectthe auxiliary electrode in parallel relation to either of the mainelectrodes 3 and 4. The main film-forming electrodes 3 and 4 may beconnected to an electrical supply circuit by conductors 8. 105

As shown in Fig. l, the auxiliary electrode 6 is connected, bv theswitch 7, to the main electrode 3. Under this condition, the voltages ofthe plates with'respect to the electrolyte aieas shown inrFigs. 2 and 3.The no line AB in 2 represents the potential potential of the mainelectrode 4. A

It will be ap arent from these" voltage potential of til/eelectrolyteand that the other` of the electrolyte andthe voltag wave9,is thatof the main electrode 3, w i

nected to the lauxiliary electrode 6. The line CD in Fig. '3representsthe potential of the electrolyte, and thcvoltage wave 1l)l isVthe eurvesthat the e ectrode which is connected in parallel relation totheauxiliary electrode has Va. tential which is always above `the myelectrode heeft. gantinfwvhien dips be"- lowthe tentialoft"e'eleetrolyte :itperiodic of electro asgI; am awarefzhae conceived; the`idea of cinggoodconditionK adfa low power factor gobtaisa'tlieffeonanser. -jf .111 i1 L 'am l aware :that dimct-cnrrent excitation providedfor both of the electrodes connections off the-auxiliary electrode vtethe main elljbctrodes2 V,they` are always maintained ytcoondensers, butno one, so far alternately Vwerkingen min4v seaman undrdirectfnnrrmtxcimtion.- It is obvi-y ous that, falthouh' `I have vshown 'a 4manuallyo rableswitclr or chan ng theconnect-ions o theauxiliaryfelectro e tothe main electrodes, various .means of changing connections rna.lieemployed.` My mventlon is Inot restrict tothe particular meansemployed for connecting the auxiliary-electrode to the main electrode,but broadly comprises alternately nnbalancmg the voltage conditions ofthe Inain electrodes with respect to the'elec ch is A'coni electrode,whichV is not connected toy the' auxilf.,

:"myx el ...days fe'rwhwh the s .auxiliarylectrodesli nld be connectedto the other :nainjelectrode 4:.- By alternating the trolyte at suchintervals as tomaintain the electrodes -in good operating condition.

, described anelectrolyticcondenser which elnbodies my invention, itisobvious that minor changes ma be made in' the construction Y thereof, wiout. departing from the spirit Although I have shown and specifically aA -formin electrodes"imi-iA daarentegenimpressing direct-.currentexcitationron'isad tive with respect tot the solution; 1,Anelectrolytic,condensercomp pluralityof` 'jma.inj-filmforming"e ect esand an auxiliary electrode,'a llimmersed in'af suitable electrolyte, andmeans foralternate#Y Iy connecting. the auxiliary 'electrode to --thc'main electr tions/1*V v c .4, The cornhimztionl with an'alterna mainelectrodes and an anxlliary' electrode all immersed in a suitableelectrolyte, of means for alternately. connecting theauxiliaryelectrodetothe main electrodesto' tential of each of the main maintain4the electrodes positive with respect to the solution'for a sufficienttime to insure goodoperating charanteristicsV in the condenser.

p es at such intervalslas tam the 'electrodes in good operating co1 1|:li`

current supply circuit and an electrolytxc condenser therein comprisinga pluralityV of.'

' Intestimony whereof, I'have hereunto suhscribed my name this 29th dayof December, 1919.- Y.

i Y CHESTER T.

